On the second day of the semi-finals of the "Ying's Cup", Li Xiaoqiang and the Chinese delegation set off for China. Looking at Yukari Umezawa, who had just left the airport, reporter Zhang Da smiled at Li Xiaoemphasis:

"Xiaoqiang, it seems that the means have changed, and they have changed from pick-up to send-off."

Li Xiaoqiang rolled his eyes: "Work, it's not because of the work of your magazine...... Reporter Zhang Da, don't blame me for not warning you in advance, I'm annoyed after losing now, so you don't mess with me. ”

"Don't mention yesterday's loss to me, just look at it, the way you lose is the way you lose, the media is very lively."

did not surprise reporter Zhang Da, and after everyone returned to China, Li Xiaoqiang's last game of chess really caused a lot of controversy. There was a lot of uproar in the media, and the overall reputation was mixed. Those in favor say that Li Xiaoqiang's behavior respects chess and deserves praise. Opponents think that Li Xiaoqiang's approach is simply brainless and too hypocritical. Reporter Zhang Da even counted that the number of voices opposed was a little more than the number of people in favor.

Reporter Zhang Da even noticed an interesting phenomenon: Whether it is the Chinese media or the Japanese media, the voices in favor and the voices against are really half to half, but the South Korean media are almost one-sided in expressing their incomprehension of Li Xiaoqiang's approach.

In the end, someone with good deeds interviewed Nie Whirlwind about this matter, and Nie Whirlwind gave an explanation, which seemed to have brought this incident to an end.

"What? Do you say Xiaoqiang's approach is hypocritical? No, no, no, things are not as complicated as you think, and I think Xiaoqiang's choice is neither to rise to the height of chess, nor to say that he is hypocritical. The reason why Xiaoqiang chose to do that was only out of pride in his heart. ”

"Pride?"

"That's right, pride. Don't look at Xiaoqiang's usual smile, looking harmless to humans and animals. In fact, you don't know Xiaoqiang, you don't know how proud he is. In the deepest part of Xiaoqiang's heart, he definitely thinks. Cao Yanzi is the one he must surpass. That's why he made such a choice, he just didn't want to, or disdain, to use the rules to win Cao Yanzi. It's as simple as that. ”

"If this were the case for you, would you make the same choice as Xiaoqiang?"

Faced with this question, Nie Whirlwind answered without hesitation: "I won't!" ”

"I won't, it's not that I don't agree with Xiaoqiang's choice. It's for me that I'm no longer qualified to do that. As you know, I'm in my 40s and I'm not young anymore, so as long as I can win a World Championship. I will not miss any opportunity......"

“…… But Xiaoqiang is different, he is qualified to do so. As you know, Xiaoqiang is currently the world's first-rate strong player. So what heights will he be able to reach in the future? To be honest, I was a little worried before. Because the chess path is difficult, at the level of Xiaoqiang, it is even more difficult to move forward with a small step. There have been countless chess players in the world who have been unable to advance for the rest of their lives after reaching a certain level. But seeing Xiaoqiang's approach, I was relieved. The reason is very simple, because I saw the pride that Xiaoqiang came from in his heart. There's that pride. Only then will he be dissatisfied, he will be more pursuing, and he will be able to continue to move forward on the road of Go. Let's think about it, how old is Xiaoqiang now? Therefore, Xiaoqiang can surpass our generation of chess players in an all-round way. I didn't necessarily believe it before, but now I'm sure of it! ”

"Li Xiaoqiang's choice comes from the pride in his heart!"

When Lao Nie's interview article came out, it caused an uproar again. Someone took this article and ran to ask Cao Yanzi. Cao Yanzi was silent for a while:

"That's right. I think what Mr. Nie said is right. This was Li Xiaoqiang's truest thought at that time. ”

"Then do you think it is possible for Li Xiaoqiang to surpass his predecessors in an all-round way?"

Hearing this question, Cao Yanzi laughed again:

"It's hard to say about this question, as Mr. Nie said. Tough chess! However, judging from the current situation, Li Xiaoqiang is one of the two junior chess players who are most likely to do this. ”

"Who's the other one?"

"The other, the other, of course, is Li Shifo." ……

In Beijing, more than 20 days after Li Xiaoqiang returned to China. Li Xiaoqiang and his teammates from the national junior team were drinking again in the old stronghold.

"Boss, do you think Cao Yanzi is telling the truth?"

Faced with this question, Li Xiaoqiang did not answer positively, he looked at him left and right:

"Today I am not the boss, the real boss today is Wei Gang. Come on, Boss Shao, I toast you ......"

Today's meal was booked a long time ago. It's just because Li Xiaoqiang was too busy some time ago, so he didn't cash in at this time.

In the national Go individual competition held at the end of 92, Shao Weigang played well, and he unexpectedly won the championship in one fell swoop. Although in this competition, Nie Whirlwind, Ma Xiaofei and Li Xiaoqiang did not participate. However, for the original "Seven Little Dragons", this is the first weighty "unrestricted" champion after all, which is a major breakthrough. So according to the practice of the national junior team, it is natural for everyone to gather together to celebrate.

"Yes, Boss Shao, I also toast you. I really envy you, in a few months you will be able to participate in the world competition. Come on, you're almost done. If it's your first time participating in the World Championship, why don't you set a goal for yourself? After drinking this glass, I wish you at least the top 8......"

There is no prize money in the national individual competition. However, there is an advantage to the individual competition, the top two in the men's group can directly participate in the "Fujitsu Cup" the following year. The first to make a breakthrough in the "Seven Little Dragons" was not Chang Rensheng, who was recognized as second only to Li Xiaoqiang in potential, nor Luo Shenzhu, who was considered to have the highest IQ, but Shao Weigang, the oldest of the "Eight Horses".

In this individual competition, Chang Ren and his brothers actually played well. Chang Rensheng ranked 4th, Zhou Dayang ranked 6th, and Luo Shenzhu also entered the top 10. To be honest, they may not care about Shao Weigang's championship, what they really care about is more likely to be the qualification to participate in the "Fujitsu Cup". Therefore, when they toasted Shao Weigang, their eyes were full of envy.

In this way, everyone will naturally not let Shao Weigang go. For a while, everyone frequently toasted him. As soon as Shao Wei saw that the situation was not right, he immediately shifted the target:

"Don't don't, don't just care about me, Xiaoqiang also has a share of today's meal. Come on, come on, I suggest everyone raise a glass together. Warmly celebrate Xiaoqiang for winning the championship of the "National Hand Battle". Tsk, "Li Guoshou"! This title is much more majestic than my championship. ”

Li Xiaoqiang blocked the wine glass with his hand, but he refused to drink this glass of wine. At the same time, he defended himself with a smile:

"Actually, I prefer everyone to call me "Li Mingming". But it's really strange, why as soon as Mr. Ma arrived in the "Celebrity War", he was so strong. Alas, it's a pity, it's so good that the situation hasn't been won. It can only be explained that Mr. Ma and the "celebrity war" are particularly fateful...... Well, I feel that Mr. Ma's chess is different now, he should also be playing chess, and he will only become more and more difficult to deal with in the future. By the way, there is also the "Toyo Securities Cup", and the "Toyo Securities Cup" I was beaten by Mr. Lin Haifeng again, and I really have nothing to say about losing this game of chess...... Therefore I must not drink this wine, and I think you should comfort me......"

In the more than 20 days after the semi-finals of the "Yingshi Cup". Li Xiaoqiang's schedule is still busy. The first is the "national hand battle", Li Xiaoqiang, who was leading 2-0 in front, did not give Ma Xiaoji a chance. In the 3rd game, he defeated Ma Xiaofei beautifully. The challenge was successful with a record of 3-0. Won the title of "National Player" for the first time.

Next is the "Celebrity War", and the opponent is also Ma Xiaofei. In the first two games of 1-1, Li Xiaoqiang still won in the third game. Just when many people thought that Li Xiaoqiang vented his anger at the loss of the "Ying's Cup" to the domestic arena. Ma Xiaofei came to a Jedi counterattack, and he successfully defended his title in 2 consecutive games.

Li Xiaoqiang, who lost the "celebrity battle", was of course very depressed. Because compared with the "national hand war", Li Xiaoqiang certainly attaches more importance to the "celebrity war". There is no other reason, just because after the "celebrity battle", there is also a "Sino-Japanese celebrity match". So far, Li Xiaoqiang has not had a chance to play in this game.

Sometimes Li Xiaoqiang also wonders if the inertia of history is really so strong. Ma Xiaofei must be tempered by Kobayashi Koji before he can enter the ranks of super-first-class chess players.

After losing the "celebrity battle", the matter is not over, and Li Xiaoqiang will participate in the top 8 of the 4th "Toyo Securities Cup". His opponent is Mr. Lin Haifeng.

In this game, Li Xiaoqiang doesn't seem to have recovered from the defeat in the "celebrity battle". And Mr. Lin clearly made careful preparations. It's similar to Nie Whirlwind's way of winning Li Xiaoqiang. Mr. Lin had an advantage in the opening stages. In the middle and late game, some spectator chess players joked that this game was "Mr. Lin's "two waists" against Li Xiaoqiang's "three waists". The end result was that "Two Waists" maintained a slight advantage until the endgame. As the defending champion, Li Xiaoqiang had no choice but to stop in the semi-finals.

Of course, the biggest news of this year's "Toyo Securities Cup" is not that Li Xiaoqiang was eliminated. Instead, Li Shifo once again advanced strongly to the final. After Mr. Lin Haifeng entered the top 4, he could not continue to move forward. In the semifinals, he lost to Li Shifo. On the other side, Li Shifo's opponent in the final was Zhao Zhixun.

Li Shifo has reached the finals of the "Toyo Securities Cup" for two consecutive years, but he has been in the other two world competitions this year, but all of them are "first-round tours". This also seems to confirm everyone's joke: the current Li Shifo is indeed not good at competing abroad.

"Can the world chess world once again produce a world champion who is in his teens?"

This was the hottest topic in the Go world at the beginning of '93. (To be continued......)